IELTS vocabulary by topic
535 hand-curated words across 17 topic and function pages. Each word comes with a plain-English definition, an IELTS-style example sentence, common collocations, and an optional band-7+ synonym so you can vary your lexis without losing accuracy.
How to use this directory
Pick the topic pages most likely to appear on your test (Work, Education, Environment, and Technology are the four highest- frequency IELTS prompts in 2026). Spend more time on the function pages (Linking Words, Collocations) than on any single topic page — those skills transfer across every prompt and account for a quarter of your Writing and Speaking bands. Quality of recall beats raw memorisation: aim to make ten to fifteen words from each chosen topic active rather than all 30.
By IELTS Speaking & Writing topic(13)
Topic-themed pages aligned to the prompts that appear most often in IELTS Speaking Part 1, Part 3, and Writing Task 2. Each page gives you the 30 highest-value words for that prompt cluster.
Crime & Justice
30 words · 2 IELTS sections
Sample: offender, deterrent, rehabilitation …
Education & Learning
30 words · 4 IELTS sections
Sample: curriculum, tutorial, lecture …
Environment & Climate Change
30 words · 2 IELTS sections
Sample: climate change, global warming, greenhouse gas …
Family & Society
30 words · 3 IELTS sections
Sample: nuclear family, extended family, generation gap …
Food & Diet
30 words · 3 IELTS sections
Sample: cuisine, ingredient, nutritional value …
Globalisation
30 words · 2 IELTS sections
Sample: globalisation, multinational corporation, free trade …
Government & Politics
30 words · 2 IELTS sections
Sample: democracy, legislation, policy …
Health & Lifestyle
30 words · 3 IELTS sections
Sample: sedentary lifestyle, balanced diet, junk food …
Media & Advertising
30 words · 2 IELTS sections
Sample: mass media, social media, advertising campaign …
Money & Finance
30 words · 2 IELTS sections
Sample: savings, budget, debt …
Technology & Internet
30 words · 3 IELTS sections
Sample: digital divide, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence …
Travel & Tourism
30 words · 3 IELTS sections
Sample: itinerary, accommodation, sightseeing …
Work & Careers
30 words · 3 IELTS sections
Sample: workforce, career path, promotion …
By writing & speaking function(4)
Function-themed pages organised by the role a word plays in your answer (linking ideas, raising lexical range), not by topic. Use these alongside the topic pages above.
Band 7+ Collocations for Speaking
35 words · 3 IELTS sections
Sample: make a decision, come to a conclusion, pay attention …
Linking Words for Writing Task 2
40 words · 2 IELTS sections
Sample: furthermore, moreover, in addition …
Phrasal Verbs for Speaking
40 words · 3 IELTS sections
Sample: take up, give up, look into …
Writing Task 1 Graph Language
30 words · 1 IELTS section
Sample: rise, increase, surge …
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